Comparing historical economic policy with current climate policy

Robert P. Murphy of the Mises Institute sheds insight on modern climate models based on the world’s experience with economic models:

What I want to stress is that the alarmist scenarios are not even just naïve extrapolations of existing trends; on the contrary, they rely on large amplifications of existing trends. If global temperatures respond to human emissions in the 21st century the way they (apparently) did in the 20th, there will be no cause for alarm. It is only by assuming that there is disaster “in the pipeline” that has not yet manifested itself, that one can make a case for massive restrictions on carbon use.
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In both cases, really smart guys (and now gals too) built impressive models that were quite rigorous in some respects, yet woefully deficient in others. In the case of economics, this hubris led to horrible government policies. We can only hope the same doesn’t happen because of the climate models.

Who runs the economy? The Government or The Rest Of Us?

After reading passages of Kathleen Harris’ interview with PM Stephen Harper, I was shocked at how economically ignorant or possibly lazy some journalists can be. I want to quote one question and its answer:

Q: Today you appeared to be bracing Canadians for a prolonged period of economic turmoil by talking about the weeks, months and years ahead. What’s your forecast for how long and how tough the road ahead will be?

A: We don’t know. We’re in a period of great deal of economic uncertainty around the world so it’s hard to predict how all this will unfold. I’ve said that we anticipate at least another year of slow growth, and I think that would be, among analysts, almost universally the case. At the same time, we have every reason to believe that Canada will stay out of recession if Canada doesn’t start raising taxes and spending itself into deficit.

Harper starts off by telling the truth: nobody knows. However, I am appalled at the lack of any follow-up to the last sentence. Who is he talking about when he personifies Canada? It sounds like he is talking about the government. Well, if that is the case, I have to ask: Who runs the economy? the government or the rest of us?

We are amidst a cognitive dissonance here. Is it bad for “Canada” to have public debt? Can we comfortably ignore the individual debts held by Canadians? Is it bad for “Canada” to have the accounting hassle of government taxation? Can we comfortably ignore the nefarious and hidden taxation of rising prices created by the institutionalized inflation of the money supply?

In light of the recent flogging after Stephane Dion fumbled an economic question, I think it is only fair to demonstrate how unknowingly biased journalists may be by virtue of their own ignorance. Stephane Dion is made to look like an economic fool — which I believe he may very well be, mind you — because his interviewer is ignorant of basic rules of grammatical logic. Stephen Harper is made to look like the prudent economist — which I believe he may very well be too, mind you — because his interviewer is ignorant of basic economic theory.

Scale Tip to Kathleen Harris, National Bureau Chief, Canoe Media.

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